Whistle structures

ABSTRACT

Devices that emit sound audible to nearby animals can include a deflection structure or other support structure and, connected to it, at least one whistle structure. The deflection structure can, for example, be a rain guard, an insect deflector, or a rock deflector. It can, for example, have an air flow surface across which air flows when the vehicle on which it is mounted moves at normal operating speeds, and whistle structures can be activated by the air flow.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to whistles, and moreparticularly to structures that can be mounted on vehicles to emit soundaudible to nearby animals.

Various devices have been proposed for providing sound to alert animalsof an approaching vehicle. U.S. Pat. No. 6,056,411, for example,describes a realignment device for a vehicle side mirror that, in oneembodiment, forms a whistle designed to emit sounds at wavelengthsaudible to animals. Other examples are described in U.S. Pat. Nos.4,150,637; 4,437,428; 4,903,630; 5,418,518; and 5,969,593.

It would be advantageous to have improved techniques for whistles onvehicles that emit sound audible to nearby animals.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention provides various exemplary embodiments, including devices,methods, and vehicles. In general, the embodiments are implemented withwhistle structures that emit sound audible to nearby animals.

These and other features and advantages of exemplary embodiments of theinvention are described below with reference to the accompanyingdrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side view of a portion of a vehicle showing a rain guardmounted over a window with a whistle structure connected to the rainguard.

FIG. 2 is a front view of a truck with an insect or rock deflector overthe grille and with whistle structures connected to the deflector.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the upper part of another implementation of aninsect or rock deflector with whistle structures.

FIG. 4 is a cross-section view of the deflector of FIG. 3, taken alongthe line 4-4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, numeric values and ranges areprovided for various aspects of the implementations described. Thesevalues and ranges are to be treated as examples only, and are notintended to limit the scope of the claims. In addition, a number ofmaterials are identified as suitable for various facets of theimplementations. These materials are to be treated as exemplary, and arenot intended to limit the scope of the claims.

The term “vehicle” is used herein to include any vehicle that may beoperated in an area in which animals are nearby. Examples of vehiclesinclude cars, trucks, motorcycles, and other motor vehicles that areoperated on roads, but various other types of vehicles could also beused.

A vehicle is treated herein as having a “vehicle body” or simply “body”,meaning the main part of the vehicle to which other structures may beconnected, either directly or through intermediate structures. The“exterior” of the vehicle refers to the part of the vehicle that isdisposed outward from the center of the vehicle. The “center line” ofthe vehicle refers to a horizontal line through the center of thevehicle and extending in the usual direction of movement. The “forward”and “rear” of a vehicle refer respectively to an end of the vehicledisposed toward usual direction of movement and the opposite end. Avehicle's “length” is measured in a horizontal direction parallel to itscenter line, while its “width” is measured in a horizontal directionperpendicular to the center line, also referred to as a “lateraldirection”.

Various structures may be “mounted” on a vehicle or on the vehicle'sexterior, meaning that the structures are attached to the vehicle suchthat they are supported by a portion of the vehicle's body. Examplesinclude rain guards, insect deflectors, rock deflectors, wing-likestructures for deflecting airflow, air scoops, wind deflectors, andvarious other structures.

A structure that can be mounted on a vehicle is referred to herein as a“deflection structure” if it performs a deflecting function bydeflecting objects, substances, or other items away from some part of avehicle on which it is mounted. For example, a rain guard deflectsprecipitation such as rain from above a window of a vehicle, preventingrain from entering even if the window is open. Similarly, insect androck deflectors deflect insects and rocks, respectively, reducing thelikelihood that the deflected objects will impact windows or otherportions of the vehicle.

A “whistle structure” or “whistle” is a structure that, in response toairflow, produces sound. The sound produced by a whistle structure maybe in the frequency range audible to humans or it may be in a higher orlower frequency range audible only to non-human animals, referred toherein simply as “animals”. For example, it could be an ultrasonic soundat a frequency higher than the upper limit of human auditory perception.

Various products are available for mounting whistles on a vehicle toalert deer or other animals to the vehicle's approach. Many of thesedevices are mounted directly to the vehicle, which can cause problems.Some of the implementations described below, however, provide techniquesin which a whistle structure is connected to a deflection structure, andthe deflection structure is mounted on a vehicle. For example, thewhistle structure can be connected to and extend forward from theforward end of a rain guard, making it unnecessary to separately mountthe whistle structure on the vehicle. Similarly, the whistle structurecan be connected to an insect or rock deflector, in which case aseparate mounting is similarly unnecessary.

Another problem with whistle structures is the need for appropriateairflow. Some of the implementations described below provide whistlestructures connected to a support structure that has an “air flowsurface”, meaning a surface across which air flows when the vehiclemoves. A whistle structure is “activated” to emit sound by a portion ofthe flowing air if the whistle structure produces sound in response tothe flowing air. Furthermore, the whistle structure emits sound when thevehicle moves “at normal operating speeds” if the whistle structure isactivated by the flow of air that occurs when the vehicle is movingwithin some part of its normal speed range. For example, the normalspeed range for operating a motor vehicle on a road or highway could bebetween 10 and 70 miles per hour; in this case, a whistle structurewould emit sound when the vehicle moves at normal operating speeds if itemits sound within any part of the normal speed range.

A whistle structure can be connected to a deflection structure or othersupport structure in any suitable way. In some of the implementationsdescribed below, a whistle structure and a deflection structure or othersupport structure are “molded as one piece”, meaning that the structuresinclude artifacts of a molding or other process by which both structureswere produced from the same material substantially at the same time,with no need for further attachment or other connection between them.

Sound emitted or otherwise produced by a whistle structure is “audible”to an animal when the animal's behavior correlates somehow with thesound. The correlation need not be perfect, provided that the presenceof the sound increases the likelihood that the behavior will change.Examples of behavior that would indicate that the sound is audibleinclude a startle or flight response or other behavior indicatingsurprise or aversion produced by the sound.

An animal is “nearby” to a vehicle with a whistle structure if theanimal is close enough to the vehicle that (1) sound from the whistlestructure would be audible to the animal if it had normal hearing, and(2) a collision could occur between the animal and the vehicle on itscurrent course and speed if the animal moves at its maximum speed. Inother words, a nearby animal is an animal that should be able to hearthe whistle structure's sound and that could collide with the vehicle ifthe vehicle continues on its current course and speed.

FIG. 1 shows a portion of a vehicle such as a car, pickup truck, orother truck. The illustrated portion of the vehicle includes door 10 inwhich window 12 is mounted. As is conventional, window 12 may be raisedor lowered between fully closed and fully open positions. It is oftendesirable, however, to leave window 12 in a slightly open position asillustrated to allow airflow through a small opening such as opening 14.

In FIG. 1, rain guard 20 is mounted around the upper side of window 12,positioned above the upper part of opening 14. Rain guard 20 thereforedeflects precipitation such as rain from above window 12, so that raindoes not enter opening 14.

The part of rain guard 20 along the uppermost side of window 12 has aforward end 22 disposed in the direction of forward motion of thevehicle. Whistle 24 is connected to forward end 22 by connecting part26. Because whistle 24 is relatively high and extends forward at least1″ or more from forward end 22, it receives relatively clear air flow,causing it to emit sound audible to nearby animals. As a result, anearby animal may respond to the sound in a way that avoids a collisionwith the vehicle.

Rain guard 20 can be structured in the same manner as variouscommercially available rain guards, such as one of the products fromLund International's Auto Ventshade or MacNeil Automotive ProductsLtd.'s WeatherTech®. In addition to its function to deflectprecipitation, rain guard 20 can have a tint or color that reduces theamount of sunlight entering the vehicle through window 12. Whistle 24can be shaped and structured like a conventional deer whistle asdescribed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,437,428, incorporated hereinby reference. Although it is desirable to mold whistle 24, connectingregion 26, and rain guard 20 in a single, structurally sturdy plasticpiece using conventional molding techniques, whistle 24 could beattached to rain guard 20 in any other suitable way.

FIG. 2 shows another portion of a vehicle such as a large pickup truckor other truck. The illustrated portion of the vehicle includes grille50 over which deflector 52 is mounted. Deflector 52 can, for example, besimilar to the bug and gravel shield disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.5,308,134, incorporated herein by reference, or could be implemented asany other deflector or air flow structure mounted on a vehicle. It isconventional to mount deflectors similar to deflector 52 on the front ofa truck to deflect insects, rocks, and other items that would otherwiseimpact windows and other portions of the vehicle.

Deflector 52 illustratively includes whistles 60 and 62 connected to itsupper portion 70, although whistles similar to whistles 60 and 62 couldbe mounted in various other positions on or in deflector 52. Whistles 60and 62 are mounted respectively on the upper left and upper rightcorners of upper part 70 by connecting parts 72 and 74, and areapproximately symmetrical with respect to the vehicle's center line 76.Like whistle 24 in FIG. 1, whistles 60 and 62 can be shaped like aconventional deer whistle as described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No.4,437,428, incorporated herein by reference. Whistles 60 and 62 extendupward from upper part 70, and therefore receive relatively clear airflow, causing them to emit sound audible to nearby animals. As a result,a nearby animal may respond to the sound in a way that avoids acollision with the vehicle.

FIG. 3 shows another implementation of the upper portion of a deflectorsimilar to deflector 52 in FIG. 2. Upper portion 80 illustrativelyincludes whistles 82 and 84. In other respects, the deflector shown inFIG. 3 can be the same as deflector 52 in FIG. 2.

Whistles 82 and 84 are also implemented in a high air flow region, butdirectly on the surface of upper part 80 and approximately symmetricallypositioned. They may be positioned to obtain the maximum air flowresulting from the shape of the deflector, a position that can bedetermined by conventional techniques. Rather than being a completewhistle like whistles 60 and 62, however, each of whistles 82 and 84 canbe structured as a part of a complete whistle, such as one-half of aconventional deer whistle as described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No.4,437,428, incorporated herein by reference.

FIG. 4 shows a cross-sectional view of part 80 along line 4-4 in FIG. 3,illustrating how whistle 84 appears from below, the side from which airflow enters. The upper part of each of whistles 82 and 84 can be shapedin any suitable way for desired air flow. Because of the high air flowacross upper part 80, whistles 82 and 84 receive strong air flow,causing each of them to emit sound audible to nearby animals. As aresult, a nearby animal may respond to the sound in a way that avoids acollision with the vehicle.

Whistles 60, 62, 82, and 84 could be attached to a deflector in anysuitable way. Although it is desirable to mold each of whistles 60 and62, 82, and 84, connecting parts 72 and 74 (if any), and the remainderof a deflector in a single, structurally sturdy plastic piece usingconventional molding techniques, whistles 60, 62, 82 and 84 could beattached to a deflector in any other suitable way.

The implementations in FIGS. 1-4 illustrate examples of a device thatincludes a deflection structure and, connected to the deflectionstructure, at least one whistle structure that emits sound audible tonearby animals. The deflection structure performs a deflecting functionrelative to a vehicle on which it is mounted. For example, thedeflection structure can be a rain guard, an insect deflector, or a rockdeflector.

In specific implementations similar to that in FIG. 1, the deflectionstructure includes a part that has a forward end disposed to thevehicle's front, and the whistle structure is connected to and extendsforward from the forward end of the part.

In specific implementations as in FIGS. 3 and 4, the deflectionstructure has an air flow surface across which air flows when thevehicle moves at normal operating speeds. Each whistle structure isactivated by a portion of the air flowing across the air surface to emitsound audible to nearby animals. For example, two or more whistlestructures could be connected to the deflection structure. Also, thedeflection structure could deflect at least one of insects and rocks.

Implementations as in FIGS. 3 and 4 also illustrate examples of a devicethat includes a support structure and, connected to the supportstructure, one or more whistle structures. The support structure isadapted to be mounted on a vehicle's exterior, and has an air flowsurface across which air flows when a vehicle on which it is mountedmoves. Each of the whistle structures is activated to emit sound by arespective portion of the air that flows across the air flow surface atnormal operating speeds. The emitted sound is audible to nearby animals.

In more specific implementations as in FIGS. 3 and 4, the supportstructure also performs a deflecting function relative to the vehicle.Also, two or more whistle structures can be connected to the supportstructure. Where the support structure extends laterally across thevehicle's width, the whistle structures can be positioned approximatelysymmetrically with respect to the vehicle's center line. As above, thesupport structure could be an insect deflector or a rock deflector.

The techniques described in relation to FIGS. 1-4 also illustrateexamples of a method to alert animals to approach of a vehicle. Themethod includes mounting a device on the vehicle and driving thevehicle. The device includes a deflection structure as described aboveand, connected to the deflection structure, at least one whistlestructure as described above. When the vehicle is driven, each whistlestructure emits sound.

The techniques described above in relation to FIGS. 3 and 4 alsoillustrate examples of another method that includes mounting a device ona vehicle's exterior and driving the vehicle at normal operating speed.The device includes a support structure with an air flow surface asdescribed above, and, connected to the support structure, one or morewhistle structures. Each whistle structure is activated to emit a soundby a respective portion of the air flowing across the air flow surfaceat normal operating speeds. The sound is audible to nearby animals.

The implementations of FIGS. 1-4 also illustrate examples of vehiclesthat include a vehicle body and, connected to the vehicle body or itsexterior, a deflection structure or a support structure. Connected tothe deflection structure or support structure are one or more whistlestructures as described above.

The techniques described above in relation to FIGS. 1-4 are advantageousbecause they make it possible to provide a deer whistle or otheranimal-alerting whistle structure as part of a convenient add-on to avehicle. For example, rain guards and similar products are mass marketedthrough auto parts stores, with specific types being available forspecific years and makes of cars or pickup trucks. In addition, thestructures described above allow enhanced air flow through whistlestructures, and each device can be structured to maximize air flowthrough whistle structures at normal operating speeds. Finally, in caseof malfunction or breakage, a device as described above could be easilyreplaced.

The exemplary implementations described above are illustrated withspecific shapes, dimensions, and other characteristics, but the scope ofthe invention includes various other shapes, dimensions, andcharacteristics. For example, the particular shape of the whistlestructures, deflection structures, and support structures could bedifferent, and could be of appropriate sizes for any particular vehicleor band of sound emission. Furthermore, rather than being molded in onepiece from plastic, the device as described above could be manufacturedin various other ways and could include various other materials.

Similarly, the exemplary illustrations described above include specificexamples of whistle structures, but any appropriate whistle structurecould be employed. Further, the above exemplary implementations employspecific deflection structures and support structures, but a widevariety of other such structures could be used within the scope of theinvention. The invention is not limited to the specific examples of rainguards, insect deflectors, and rock deflectors, but could be used withother structures that perform a deflecting function or that havesuitable air flow surfaces.

While the invention has been described in conjunction with specificexemplary implementations, it is evident to those skilled in the artthat many alternatives, modifications, and variations will be apparentin light of the foregoing description. Accordingly, the invention isintended to embrace all other such alternatives, modifications, andvariations that fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

1. A device comprising: a deflection structure that can be mounted on avehicle; the deflection structure performing a deflecting functionrelative to a vehicle on which it is mounted; the deflection structurehaving an air flow surface across which air flows when a vehicle onwhich it is mounted moves; the deflection structure extending laterallyacross the vehicle's width; and connected to the deflection structure,two or more whistle structures; two of the whistle structures beingpositioned approximately symmetrically with respect to the vehicle'scenter line and each being activated to emit sound by a respectiveportion of the air flowing across the air flow surface when the vehiclemoves at normal operating speeds; the sound emitted by each of the twowhistle structures being audible to nearby animals.
 2. The device ofclaim 1 in which the deflection structure is an insect deflector or arock deflector.
 3. A method of using the device of claim 1 to alertanimals to approach of a vehicle, comprising: mounting the device on thevehicle; and driving the vehicle with each whistle structure emittingsound.
 4. A vehicle comprising the device of claim 1, the vehiclefurther comprising: a vehicle body; the deflection structure of thedevice being connected to the vehicle body.
 5. A device comprising: asupport structure adapted to be mounted on a vehicle's exterior; thesupport structure having an air flow surface across which air flows whena vehicle on which it is mounted moves; the support structure extendinglaterally across the vehicle's width; and two or more whistlestructures, each connected to the support structure, two of the whistlestructures being positioned approximately symmetrically with respect tothe vehicle's center line and each being activated to emit sound by arespective portion of the air flowing across the air flow surface whenthe vehicle moves at normal operating speeds; the sound emitted by eachof the two whistle structures being audible to nearby animals.
 6. Thedevice of claim 5 in which the support structure performs a deflectingfunction relative to the vehicle on which it is mounted.
 7. The deviceof claim 5 in which the support structure is an insect deflector or arock deflector.
 8. A method of using a device as in claim 5 to alertanimals to approach of a vehicle, comprising: mounting the device on thevehicle's exterior; and driving the vehicle at a normal operating speed.9. A vehicle comprising the device of claim 5, the vehicle furthercomprising: a vehicle body; the support structure of the device beingconnected to the vehicle body's exterior.